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“You quit. You went cold turkey. Did you ever go back?”
“Never. Once I decided I was done, I was done. I’ve never done drugs since. I hate it. I hate myself for how weak I was.”
“Howaddicted,” she counters. “Not weak. I don’t get it, Jamie. How does any of this relate to Dad?”
“He got into hot water right around the time he came after me. He needed to disappear, so they took the body of some poor bastard who missed his debt, cut him up bad, and forced me to take the fall. They forced me to explain to the police that this was Patrick Hutchinson, and we had an argument, but that was it. No more information. I think they threatened your aunt to identify the body.”
She gasps. “She never wanted to talk about Dad. Shehatedtalking about it. I thought it was just the grief, but it was guilt too.”
“There was nothing I could do. It was take the fall or let them kill my sister, so I took it. I told myself I was doing what I always did. Taking care of my baby sister. If this was the price I had to pay, fine.”
“And you let everybody believe you’re a monster.”
I swallow. “Yes.”
“You let the whole world believe you ruthlessly killed a man. You sacrificed any chance at a normal life.”
“That’s how much family means to me,” I say fiercely, then lean down and kiss her.
She’s caught off guard, but she returns the kiss.
“That’s how muchourfamily will mean to me,” I continue breathily between kisses. “I’d do anything to protect you and our children, just like I did with my sister.”
“You let the whole world believe…”
She starts sobbing, clutching desperately to me. It’s all too much for her. I hold her close to me, squeezing as she vents her pain, as her body trembles all over like she’s going to sink to the floor.
“Why was he here?” she says after a few minutes. “Why now? With the gun? The handcuffs?”
“He could never let the disrespect go. Even in prison, from time to time, an inmate would approach with a message from him. He’s been working on the outside under fake names, changing locations, recruiting people, and running his game. He’s good at that.”
“What would the inmates say?”
“Comments about Kylie’s new house or a recent car purchase. Supposedly innocent comments that let me know to keep my mouth shut.”
“I hate him,” Lucy whispers. “All these years, I’ve tried to make myself say that. I’ve tried to let myself feel it. He did so many evil things to me and took out his anger on me like I was nothing, but I could never cross that line. I never knew how deep it went.”
“He’s still your father.”
“Ihatehim.” She slams me on the chest, not in anger atme, but because she needs to vent this pain. I can sense all of that from the way she moves. “I can’t believe he’d do that. Threaten an innocent woman and child.”
“He hit a child,” I point out softly. “He hit you.”
She grabs my chest, pulls herself closer, and pushes herself away. She doesn’t know what to do. She doesn’t know how to deal with any of this.
“We can’t stay here,” I tell her, “but we can’t stay at my friend’s, either. I can’t inflict this on Tommy. Even if wedidmove, he could find us.”
“And come back with his gun and his handcuffs. Do you think he was here for you, then?”
“Of course. He must’ve followed me here. He waited until he thought we’d be asleep. He probably assumed I was staying on the couch. He could threaten me with the gun and take me away. He tried to make me run drugs for him. That was what the kid, Zack, was saying in the diner. I said no. Patrick will take that as another sigh of disrespect.”
“There’s another possibility.” Lucy lowers her voice. “He was here for me.”
“He could’ve done that any time,” I point out.
There’s a long pause, then Lucy sniffles. Maybe she’s thinking about how messed up this is, talking about her dad kidnapping her.
“So, what can we do?”
